Method and apparatus for drying photographic films



Dec. 25, 1923.

l G. M. DYE

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS original Filed sept. 13,

1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 L@ TToR/vfy Dec. 2 1923.

G. M. DYE

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS Or inal Filed Sept. 13 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTF? QM DYE Z H ATTORNEY /Y l( M Dec. 25 1923.

G. M. DYE

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS n 5 R N 0E R u TY m. W VM. m ma H. S Y 3 B q V m, B Il' QN\ 1 @E L. L; L7 L; I L; Lun-M LJ@ nl .\.-N ,E k d n A m .d mw F M Il .m Q w n Q Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GLEN M. DYE, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA..

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DBYING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS.

Original application led September 13, 1919, Serial No. 323,593. Divided and this application led September 10, 1921.

To all whom 'it ma@ concer/n.:

Be it known that I, GLEN M. DYE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Dryin Photographic Films; and I do hereby dec are the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for drying photographic films and prints and is one part of a series of operations in which the films are developed, fixed, Washed and dried as a continuous operation. A

It is an object of this invention to dry the washed films by progressing the same through a drying chamber while suspended from a carrler to which they have been previously attached and from which they will be removed after paing through said chamber.

It is another object of this invention to piovide an apparatus of novel structure by means of which the films can be suspended in spaced relation andr continuously progressed into and through the drying chamber.

This application is a division of my copending application filed September 13, 1919, for photographic developing apparatus, S. N. 323,593.

The above objects and other objects and advantages of the'invention will be full set forth in the following description ma e in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of novel apparatus suitable for carrying out the hereindisclosed method, and in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in horizontal section illustrating the complete apparatus for developing` and drying the films;

ig. 2 is a vertical section of the apparatus taken approximately on lthe line 2-2 of Fio. 1 y

Fig.,3 is an enlarged horizontal section of a portion of the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3, some parts being removed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view' showing a portion of the film carrier and associated parts; and

Serial No. 499,722.

Fig. 6 is a rear'elevation of the apparatus some parts being sectioned and some parts being broken away.

Referring to the drawings, the mechanism of my improved apparatus is arranged partly within and partly outside of a dark room, and usuall the light and dark rooms will be separatedy by a wall or partition 13 extending from a floor 14. The film carrier which is preferably' in the form of an endless sprocket chain or link belt, is arranged to travel in a horizontal plane through and along the opposite sides of the partition 13 and, as shown, the sprocket chain 15 which affords said carrier, is arranged to travel over sprocket Wheels 16 and 17 that are located in film passage-ways 18 and 19, respectively, formed in the said partition and extended down quite close to the floor or far enough `to permit the film to pass therethrough when suspended from said sprocket chain or carrier belt. Said sprockets 16 and 17 (see particularly Fig. 1), are journaled to suitable bearings on the partition 13, and the shaft of the sprocket 16 is shown as provided with a worm gear 20. Worm gear 20 meshes with a worm 21 on a shaft 22 journaled in suitable bea-rings 23 fixed to the partition 13. At its extended end, shaft 22 has a face friction wheel 24: with which co-operates a peripheral friction wheel 25 that is carried by, but slidable on a small counter shaft 26, journaled in suitable bearings on a supporting bracket 27 secured to partition 13 (see particularly Fi 2).

riction wheel 25 is adapted to be a justed radially-of friction wheel 24, and thereby set for the transmission of different speeds, by an adjusting lever 28 pivoted to bracket 27 At its outer end, shaft 26 has a sheave 29. A belt 30 runs over sheave 29 and over a sheave 31 on the armature shaft of a small electric motor 32 shown as supported on the bracket 27. By the means just above described, the link belt 15 is adapted to be continuously driven at any desired speed from motor 32.

'In the drawings, the films in the form of strips y are arranged to be spaced apart and carried by the carrier belt 15, and the said belt is| provided with means for detachably holding the same, and preferably also, for detachably holding order number tabs y1. This means, as shown, comprises upright metal arms 33 secured to certain of f through ,unloading Zone Gr,

the linlrs of said belt and provided at their lower ends withA tlat plate-like heads 3d equipped with spring clamps 35 tor directly gripping the upper edges of the films. At their upper ends, said arms 33 are shown as provided with flat plates 36 to which the order tabs y1 may be detachably secured by spring clips 3i, or the like. i y

'llo support the carrier belt between sprockets, the arms 33 are shown as provided with forwardly and rearwardly projecting rider pins 38 that are arranged to travel over laterally spaced parallel horizontally exmnded rails 39., Said rails 39 are located in pairs on opposite sides of the wall 13 and, as

shown, are rigidly secured to the prongs of inverted U-shaped hanger brackets d0, which, in turn, are rigidly securedto the said wall 13 (see particularly Figs. 5 and 6). rlhese rails receive the rider pins 38 as they pass from the one sprocket and guide the same to the other sprocket, and this, as already indicated, takes place on both sides ot the wall ld.

7llhe iilm. and the order number tabs will be applied to the carrier on that-portion ot the chain that is moving through the loading zone marked A on lFi'g. l. lirom load* ing zone A, the lms will be carried through developing zone B, thence, through rinsing zone C, thence, through fixing Zone l), and thence through washing zone E From washing zone E, Fig. l, the hlms" will be carried through the rear opening of the wall 1.3, thence through drying zone l? and thence from which latter, the fully developed iilms will be removed, all y as will hereinafter more tully ap ear.

s the washed lms pass from washing zone E, they are carried through the opening 19 in wall 13 and through the drying Zone l The drying zone is within a housing 69 secured to wall 13. rllhis housing is' open at its top, but at the bottom is connected by short air tubes 70, to a hot air pipe 7l, which, in practice, will be connected to a suitable source ot hot or warm air supply, such as a fan connected, in turn, to a heating chamber. d

The operation already generally indicated, may be briefly summarized as tollows The lms y, at their upper ends, are attached to the continuously traveling carrier belt' by `the clips 35, Aas they pass through the loading zone 'lo cause the iilm to hangstraight down, clip-like weights 72 may be applied to the lower ends thereof. From loading zone A, the lms pass in regular order through the developing zone B., From the developing Zone, the lms pass through rinsing zone where the surplus developing liquid is washed therefrom, and from thence, they pass into and through a xing zone D.

A antenas operations being those required to attach the hlms to the carrier belt and to remove the same therefrom.

This machine is capable ot rapidly turning out a large number ot tilrns and is, therefore, especially adapted lor use where a very large amount ot tilm development is to be done and where small cost per film is of high importance.

dll

'lhe air tor drying should not be hot but f quite warm and dry.` y

As already indicated, this apparatus or machimefmayv be used tor complete development ont either negatives, using the term in the ordinary sense, or what is usually designated as photographic prints, post cards, or the like, having photo-sensitive :tmes on which pictures Vare printed.

.llrom the above description it is seen that applicant has provided a simple and emcient method and apparatus tor drying the dime as a continuous process. The identiiication ont the lms according to the owners and to the job and lot numbers, is usually maintained by the order numbers being placed directly on the nlm carriers and the nlms progress continuously through the drying chamber. 'lhe carrier will be loaded and unloaded during itsr movement which is quite slow, andrwill thus be moved repeatedly through the drying chamber and the `.be regulated as desired and the conditions in the drying chamber can be maintained inthe roper state to eliciently dry the lms. he method land apparatus e'eot a great saving ol time and labor in the com mercial handling of a large number of films.

Establishments which now develop films for. amateur photographers frequently do an lmmense volume of business, and applicants invention forms a great advance in the art of handling these iilms.

lt will, of course be understood that various changes .may be made in the form, details and arrangementvof the apparatus and m the steps of the process without departing from the scope of applicants invention,

which, generally stated, consists .in the matter shown yand described and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of ldrying photographic roll films which consists in securing the npper ends of the same at spaced points on a traveling member moving in a horizontal plane, weighting the lower ends' of said films so thatthey depend singly and main'- tain their spaced relation, progressing said members into, through and out of a drying chamber.

2. A drying apparatus for photographic. roll {ilms having in combination, a dryin chamber, spaced tracks at the to thereo rollers movable on said tracks havlng means projecting thereabove, an endless chain secured to said means, and driven by a. sprocket having a substantially vertical axis, spaced means depending from said rollers and between said tracks, and clips adapted to hold the upper end of a depending film while the same moves into and out of said chamber.

3. A drying apparatus for photographic ilms having in combination, a narrow vertical drying chamber 'open at its ends, sprocket wheels mounted in horizontal planes at the vtop of said chamber at the ends thereof, an

endless carrier moving over said sprockets in substantially one plane, spaced supporting means secured to said carrier beneath the same, a track beneath said carrier on which said supporting means move, means connected =to said supporting means and adapted to clamp the end of and hold a ilm in depending relation'therefrom, and means for moving said endless carrier to progress the films through said chamber.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

GLEN M. DYE. 

